New York Man Makes $500 A Week From Gold In Pavement Cracks
It turns out the streets of New York really are paved with gold - as long as you don't mind searching for it on your hands and knees.
Raffi Stepanian, a self-styled urban prospector, has discovered enough tiny jewellery fragments hidden in the sidewalks of the city's Diamond District to make a living.
Using nothing more than a Styrofoam cup, tweezers and a butter knife, he collects hundreds of dollars worth of gold, diamonds and rubies each week.
The 43-year-old told the New York Post: 'The percentage of gold out here on the street is greater than the amount of gold you would find in a mine...
'It comes close to a mother lode because in the street, you're picking up gold left by the industry.'
Mr Stepanian spends his days trawling through nooks and crannies in the area around 47th Street, searching for a glimmer of the precious metal.
He eases up mud from the cracks in the sidewalk using a butter knife, then takes it to a nearby polishing studio where he pans the dirt using a bowl and a sieve, just like a 19th-century prospector.
Read more: dailymail
